Daily Number

18,023

February 13, 2017

Knowing the causes of mortality in a state or a country is a key step in developing effective preventive measures — and the latest release of the New Jersey State Health Assessment Data (NJSHAD) does both. The leading cause of death in the United States in 2014 was heart disease, which killed 614,348 Americans. It also was the leading cause of death in the Garden State, taking 18,023 lives. Cancer was next: 591,699 (U.S.) and 16,393 (NJ), followed by stroke: 133,103 (nationally) and 3,363 (Garden State). A quarter of the deaths in New Jersey (18,234) were attributed to “all other causes.”